The Dragon Prince's Bride
Chapter 139. I lied.

Chapter 139: 139. I lied.

That night, to honor her father-in-law, Neriah had decided to wear a tragonian dress. She and Aria had taken their time to choose a design that suited her the previous week and the dress had arrived in the morning of yesterday.

In Trago, it was customary to pick a certain color as the dress code for occasions, and the color that had been chosen for the King’s birthday was blue. Any shade of blue was allowed. And Neriah had gone with sky blue.

It was an overflowing fitted sky blue dress that was a huge contrast to her green eyes but complemented her long red hair beautifully well. The dress held her body at her chest, waist and hips, slowly becoming free and full right under her hips. It was a simple dress with little blue stones attached to every part of it, giving it a glistening look like the scales of a mermaid.

Her shoulders were bare as the dress was off her shoulders and sleeveless, only a set of thin strands of beads that ran from her chest to her back served as her sleeve. Her tattoos were visible and clear for all to see. For some reason she had chosen to style her hair up in a slightly rough low bun, so even her hair did not cover her tattoos.

When Neriah finished dressing up, she stood in front of the mirror and smiled at her appearance, Aria was busy raining praises on her beauty and so were the other maids who helped her. But Neriah’s attention moved from her maids to the different portraits of her husband on the walls, from his younger self to the most recent one that looked just like the man she was married to.

And as she stared at his portrait, it was almost as though he was staring back at her and she wondered in her head, ’When will you return?’

To finish up her dressing, Aria brought forth a silver-blue pearl set that Neriah had received from Rakavi just while she was in the bathroom. It had a small note attached to it that read, "For a job well done, accept this little token from a mother’s heart."

It was a simple pearl necklace that rested on her neck coupled with the dropping earrings made from the same silver blue pearl. Neriah smiled as her fingers traced and counted the pearls on her neck. Silver blue pearls were a rare kind of pearls. This amount would be enough to purchase a hundred rolls of silk, yet she was gifted these expensive pearls by her husband’s mother.

Five months ago, she would never have thought that she would be associating with people she referred to as barbarians, more or less receiving expensive gifts from them. Life was indeed unpredictable.

"I will say this again, Your highness, you look remarkable in that dress." Aria said after Neriah suddenly sent the other maids out of the room.

"Maybe I should add a little more glitter so you will outshine everyone there." Riri said as she flew round and round Neriah’s face. "Well, you already outshine those barbarians so—"

"I have a confession to make." Neriah suddenly said and Aria and Riri instantly focused their attention on her beautiful face.

This confession was hard for her, but she had thought about it again and again and it weighed heavy on her heart. She could no longer continue that particular lie. Every time she saw the young prince Barni still lingering around looking for Riri, she felt ashamed of the Lie she had told and pitied the young boy.

And the reason she had lied in the first place was to keep her fairy to herself, but still, she didn’t like the fact that Riri never associated with anyone at all. Her desires were so contradictory that she annoyed herself, but she also knew it was wrong for either of them to continue that way.

"Th_that time when I said Barak beat me..." She paused and stared at the two of them before swallowing down hard and continuing,"I_ I had lied." She confessed with her head and eyes downcast.

"He has never once beat me. He hasn’t even done as much as to pinch me. I only lied because I was jealous of how Riri was free with him and the rest and it felt as though they were stealing you from me. I know this is no excuse for my lie but that is the truth." She finally lifted her head and her eyes met the shock and obvious pain in Riri’s eyes just as she had expected, but when she shifted her gaze to Aria, there was no shock or pain there.

It almost seemed as though Aria already knew the truth.

She turned to Riri again and "Riri I—"

"If you stay here any longer, you will arrive after the king, which is quite disrespectful. You better start heading out." Riri said and turned her back to Neriah, instantly flying out. Neriah stretched her hand to stop the fairy from angrily flying away, but withdrew her hand.

"Leave her alone for now..." Aria said. "She will be fine in no time."

"You knew I had lied." Neriah said.

"At first no... But seeing your actions towards your husband, at some point I realized the lie." Aria said.

Neriah took Aria’s hands in her own, "Aria, I really regret that lie. I_ I am sorry." Neriah forced the words out, finally drawing a shocked expression out of Aria.

The maid knew very well how difficult it was for her mistress to say those words and yet she had said them... It took no magician to see that her dear princess was changing in this place.

A smile swept across Aria’s face as she wrapped her arms around her mistress in a firm hug... "You look even more beautiful right now." She said as she broke the hug. "But you do know the one who deserves your apology the most is the one who has been lied against." Aria pointed out and Neriah was not sure she could confess to her lies to anyone else. Especially not Barak.

He didn’t know about that lie in the first place, so there was no reason to confess to the truth.

"Treating him with a little more respect would do." Aria said and Neriah smiled a half smile as she wondered how she was supposed to do that. "Riri was right about one thing though, if you keep standing here, you will arrive late. So wipe away that sad face and put on the biggest smile. For my princess is most beautiful when she smiles brightly."

Neriah stared at her maid with much love in her heart, "Thank you, Aria."

...

Neriah arrived just in the nick of time. She was announced as Crown princess Neriah Der Drache and she walked into the hall she had put so much effort into decorating, although now it was filled with people. Many different people.

All eyes were on her... it was her debut into society all over again.

They were whispering but it was as though they wanted her to hear them. ’She is so fair.’ They were saying, and Neriah wondered why they spoke as though they had never seen a fair person. Even in the ball, she could already count ten to fifteen gentlemen and ladies who were not of tragish descent. People who were as fair as her. Some of whom were representatives of their different kingdoms. So why were they staring so much?

’So the rumors were false.’ someone was saying and it made her wonder what sort of rumors had gone around about her. ’I heard the reason she has been kept out of social gatherings was because prince Barak had married a woman who looked like an ogre.’

What? An ogre! For a second her eyes moved from the path she was taking and searched for the person who had said that. But then she remembered where she was and faced her path again. Walking slowly and majestically with the gait of a peacock. Her dress giving her the elegance of one too.

She counted her steps in her head as she moved, all the while still listening to their words.

’Aye, I heard that rumor too. But now that I have seen her myself, I must say she is a divine beauty. Like the elven goddess Aveliana.’ Someone said and Neriah’s cheeks and chin rose high with pride. She had her mother to thank for her goodlooks.

’But I heard she is a villainess. That she mistreats her servants.’ Someone was saying and those words did not actually bother her as much as them thinking she looked like an ogre.

’Well, she does have the look of a prideful woman who would do such.’ Another person was saying. Neriah scoffed inwardly as she wondered how so much rumors about her had spread about.

’But the fact remains that she is beautiful.’ Neriah nodded at that. ’Hence thee rumors that the prince iss smitten by her.’ they continued and Neriah could remember the prince in question telling her that he was indeed smitten by her. So there was a rumor about that.

She raised her chin higher again as she was glad that at least one rumor was true. Her husband was smitten by her.

"Sister, you look so much prettier than Rakima in that dress!" The twins said in sync as she reached were they stood. They too had put in effort to learn her language for better communication.

Beside them was Rakima and Barni. "And you both look like goblins dressed in expensive clothes." Rakima hissed at them in a rather refined manner. "But indeed," she turned her gaze to Neriah, "It suits you well." She acknowledged.

"Thank you Rak—" Neriah broke off as the murmurs of people slowly rose high, causing her to wonder why they were suddenly murmuring so loudly.

"He does love surprises." Rakima said with a smile on her face.

Barni and the twins face lit up like she had never seen them do before, ""Brother!"" The three of them screamed in sync and Neriah’s heart skipped beats. He was back!

Slowly, very slowly, she turned and her eyes met his, a bright smile played on his face as he reached her and said, ""Hello.""